Saturday, June 30, 2007

For a change, I will find delight in shutting off the game early. I expect to do so right after the first pitch of the third inning.

I've tried this turn-it-off stuff, in disgust, about 300 times over the last three seasons. Every time I turn it back on, the Pirates still suck.

I doubt the TV or the radio people will pay any attention, even if the entire stadium is cricket-chirpin' empty for twenty minutes. And since I will turn it off myself, I'd have no way of knowing how it went down myself.

So all you fans at the game--please document what you see and hear. Expect mad web traffic to the best collection of photos and anecdotes.

The protest has already succeeded in attracting national media coverage: AP story here. And Yahoo's Jeff Passan:

Pirates fans have every reason to be mad, and what stings so much is their limited options. Stop buying tickets? Nutting will just stay on MLB's teat – and, with the decreased local revenue, have an excuse for doing so. Force a change in upper management? Littlefield should have been canned two years ago.

The Pirates have responded to the media interest in Saturday's protest by instructing employees to not mention the protest, not televise it, and to delete comments about it on pirates.com. Bob Smizik relates and opines on the Pirates efforts to black out the walkout. Charlie at Bucs Dugout has an excellent post about his thoughts on the protest.

I'm pro-protest. I think the good of attracting more local and national attention to the record-setting mismanagement of the Bucs outweighs the bad of protesters having to actually pay a small fee to protest.

Bob Smizik is most disappointed in Jim Tracy and offers advice for Bob Nutting:

Nutting, we've seen, is a man slow to act. He sees the Pirates as a business, one that is making money. But, for the good of the franchise -- for the good of his investment -- it's time for Nutting to think seriously about who he wants as his general manager and manager.

Monday, June 25, 2007

In 13 IP for the 2007 Bucs, Wasdin has given up 21 hits and 7 BBs, for a 6.92 ERA, 2.15 WHIP, and .382 BAA. At Indy, Wasdin's numbers are freaky: in 28.2 IP, he's given up 35 hits (9! HR) but walked none and K'ed 33. Wayback can still throw strikes, but they are still often hit very far.

The BCT's John Perrotto on the upcoming fan protest and the embarassment-proof front office:

We're going to find out in the next few months if Nutting is truly embarrassed by this mess of a franchise. If he is, then he should make a clean sweep of management and show the foresight to bring in people who are smart enough and dedicated enough to make the Pirates a winner again.

Nutting is not a bad person. He is not dispensing social injustice. What he is doing is not illegal, unethical or immoral. What he is guilty of -- in the eyes of most people -- is running his business in a fan-unfriendly manner. He does not deserve to be boycotted and most certainly the people who work for him, be it at PNC Park, Seven Springs or his many newspapers do not deserve to have their jobs placed in jeopardy because the Pirates stink.

Smizik makes lots of good points, but I'm not sure I buy this part. Isn't it unethical and/or immoral to reward proven failure (e.g. extending DL's contract) and thereby knowingly subject hundreds of thousands of Pirate fans to watching awful baseball? If it's not fair to Lefty the beer man for a fan to stay away from PNC in protest of the baseball team, wouldn't it follow that it's not fair to Lefty that the owner and GM field a crummy team year in and year out and threaten his livelihood with the resultant general fan disinterest? And if so, then wouldn't Nutting's actions and inactions qualify as unfair, unethical, and/or evil?

"I [expletive] hate this," he said at his stall, his voice rising. "And you can put that in the paper. I [expletive] hate losing. I hate when the team doesn't bring out its full potential. And if they fine me, fine me. I don't care. Because this is getting stupid. We're better than what we're showing."